Nokia to support Symbian till 2014

At the Australian launch event for the Nokia X7 and Nokia E6, Nokia Australia’s MD Chris Carr confirmed that they'll continue releasing Symbian phones “at least” until 2012, and that it’ll support the OS for two years after the last Symbian handset is released.

That roughly ties in with previous talk of a two-year transitional period, after which Windows Phone 7 will become Nokia’s primary smartphone platform, and Symbian will be laid to rest.

So Symbian isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Just a few weeks ago, Nokia’s Purnima Kochikar was singing from the same hymn sheet on Forum.Nokia, saying: “We have been evaluating our Symbian roadmap and now feel confident we will have a strong portfolio of new products during our transition period – i.e. 2011 and 2012.”

Interestingly, Carr confirmed that Nokia will continue working with Intel on MeeGo, the OS that was first revealed at Mobile World Congress in 2010. Clearly the Finns aren’t putting all of their eggs in the Windows Phone 7 basket.

As for an ETA for the first Nokia phone with Windows Phone 7, Carr would only give a vague: "First half of 2012". That’s for the Aussies, mind.